Plural compartment vials and syringe cartridges



Oct. 16, J. F. GREENE PLURAL COMPARTMENT VIALS AND SYRINGE CARTRIDGESFiled En 17,-1954 INVENTOR d'oszffllf GREENE ATTORNEY PLURAL COMPARTMENTVIALS AND SYRENGE CARTRIDGES Joseph F. Greene, Vineland, N. 5., assignorto @wens- Illinois Glass Company, a corporation of @hio ApplicationAugust 17, 1954, Serial No. 450,437

1 'Claim. (Cl. 128-272) The present invention relates to improvements invials and syringe cartridges and more particularly is a novel means fordividing a vial or syringe cartridge into two compartments, one of whichis intended to accommodate a dry powdered material, such as amedicament, while the other houses the diluent, such for example aswater, or some physiological saline solution. Such separation of the twocomponents is essential in many instances and particularly so where thedrugs involved are not stable in solution.

An object of the present invention is the provision in a vial or syringecartridge of a thin frangible glass partition which is readily breakablemerely by the inward movement of a plug-type closure, such movementincreasing the pressure against the diaphragm or partition so that it isbroken and thereby permits admixing of the powdered material anddiluent.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a vial or syringecartridge which is formed from a pair of open-ended glass cylinders anda relatively thin frangible glass disk which is welded to adjacent endsof the cylinders to thereby provide a partition dividing the vial orcartridge into two separate compartments.

Other objects will be in part apparent and in part pointed outhereinafter.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. l is a longitudinal sectional view of a vial incorporating myinvention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view with parts in section illustrating oneprocedure by which adjacent ends of the cylinders may be softenedpreparatory to welding same to the margins of a partition disk;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, but shows the frangible partitiondisk welded to the adjacent ends of the cylinders;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3, showing the final heating stepdesigned to glaze and finish the joints between the cylinders andpartition; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken substantially at the line 55 of Fig. 4.

In an article as just described, whether it be used as a vial and ahypodermic needle inserted through the closure at one end, or as areplaceable syringe cartridge, it is formed from a pair of cylinders ofidentical diameter and wall thickness and of lengths required by theparticular use to be made of the vial or cartridge. By means of atransverse partition 11 lying in a plane at Sets atent O right angles tothe axis of the cylinders 10 and preferably formed of glass, and beingof sufficient thinness to be readily broken by an increase in internalpressure at one side thereof, the vial or cartridge is divided into twocompartments 12; one of which contains a dry powdered material 13, whilethe other will house the diluent 14, which as stated, may be water orsome other suitable saline solution. The partition 11, as shown, is of asub stantially uniform thickness, less than the wall thickness of thecylinders and also is of a diameter greater than the interior diameterof the cylinders. The ends of the device are closed by plugs 15 whichmay be formed of rubber or some such material which is resilient andcapable of effectively sealing the outer ends of the compartments 12. Inuse, either of the plugs, but preferably that which seals the diluentcontaining compartment, is pressed axially inward thereby increasing thepressure and breaking the frangible partition 11 and effecting admixingof the diluent and powdered material. Thereafter, the needle of ahypodermic syringe (not shown) may be inserted through either of theclosure plugs for the purpose of withdrawing a measured amount of thesolution. In the event the device is used as a syringe cartridge, it ofcourse would be placed in the conventional holder and one end of adouble-ended hypodermic needle would be forced into the cartridgethrough one of the closure plugs and the partition broken as abovedescribed, as the initial step in effecting admixing of the materials.

As is perhaps apparent by reference to Figs. 2, 3, and 4, the vial, orcartridge, is formed by first preparing two lengths of glass tubing andsubjecting adjacent ends to a heating-up step in the presence of burners16, which softens the ends preparatory to bringing same into coaxialalignment and effecting a glass-to-glass seal with the opposed faces ofa frangible glass partition disk 11. Following such uniting of the parts(as shown in Fig. 3) the assembled article is again subjected to theheat of the burners 16 for the purpose of completing the seal andfire-polishing or glazing the joint.

Modifications may be resorted to within the spirit and scope of theappended claim.

I claim:

In a plural-compartment vial, or syringe cartridge, a pair of open endedglass cylinders arranged end to end in axial alignment and a frangiblepartition lying in a plane at right angles to the axis of and closingthe adjacent ends of the cylinders and welded thereto, said partitionbeing a glass disk formed separately from the cylinders and of asubstantially uniform thickness less than the wall thickness of thecylinders, said disk also being of a diameter greater than the interiordiameter of the cylinders.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,943,120 Kabnick Jan. 9, 1934 2,184,152 Saffir Dec. 19, 1939 2,377,274Smith May 29, 1945 2,521,048 Day Sept. 5, 1950 2,532,478 Bridges Dec. 5,1950

